Minister of Education and Training Nguyễn Kim Sơn speaks at the National Assembly's discussion on the Teachers Bill on Wednesday. — VNA/VNS Photos Doãn Tấn

HÀ NỘI — The National Assembly (NA) heard that more attention should be paid to teacher pay and recruitment.

During a discussion on the Teachers Bill on Wednesday morning delegates heard that the document was a necessity in the national development of educators and the current legislation requirements.

On the occasion of Vietnamese Teacher’s Day (November 20), the NA Standing Committee also expressed gratitude towards nearly 1.6 million teachers and education managers across the country, as well as those who are contributing to the sector.

Speaking from his experience in education management, NA deputy Trần Văn Thức (Thanh Hóa Province) said that the imbalanced distribution of teachers at the local level is becoming increasingly critical.

One of the key reasons for this situation is the lack of leadership from education management agencies, resulting in challenges regarding teacher recruitment and employment in alignment with actual demands.

He pointed out that teacher recruitment in public education institutions is currently carried out with the same regulations for civil officials, which are not fully aligned with the job description of educators.

Meanwhile, the local Education and Training Divisions do not have a leadership role in teacher recruitment and therefore cannot take proactive measures for teacher allocation, leading to an imbalanced distribution in various localities.

Thức agreed to the proposed regulations that grant more autonomy to the education sector in recruiting teachers.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) and the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs will lead the development of strategies, projects and plans related to this matter.

“This is an important policy that can address the increasingly challenging bottlenecks regarding the imbalanced distributions of teachers that have persisted for years in many localities,” said Thức.

NA deputy Huỳnh Thị Ánh Sương (Quảng Ngãi Province) added that remote areas still have difficulty in hiring teachers. Therefore, it is necessary to have a comprehensive education management approach to address the obstacles in teacher recruitment and deployment.

She also said that more attention should be paid to teacher’s income and benefits, especially those working at the preschool level. Teachers should be exempted from managerial roles in educational institutions, she added.

NA deputy Dương Khắc Mai (Đắk Nông Province) expressed strong support for the recommendation to place teachers' salaries at the highest level within the public salary scale.

He added that this salary tier should align with the quality of educators due to their decisive role in improving training for a high-quality workforce, which is essential for the country’s industrialisation, modernisation and international integration.

Sharing the same viewpoint that teachers’ salaries should be on par with other professions, NA deputy Trần Quang Minh (Quảng Bình Province) added that preferential policies regarding location allowances, educational level or professional development should be applied, therefore reducing income inequalities and privilege loopholes.

Acknowledging the comments from NA deputies at the meeting, Minister of Education and Training Nguyễn Kim Sơn said that there is a high consensus and support for this bill, which demonstrates the public’s attention and responsibility towards the education sector.

The Teachers Bill outlines the principles regarding teachers and will act as the basis for the specific guidelines for implementation which will be issued by government leaders, he noted.

Regarding comments on extra classes, Minister Sơn said that the MoET does not prohibit teachers from offering tutoring classes but rather behaviours that violate teachers’ professional ethics or principles.

He added that all recommendations from NA deputies will be considered, stressing that the development of educators is the key focus of this Teachers Bill.

Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyễn Thị Thanh addresses the discussion on Wednesday morning

In closing the discussion on Wednesday, NA vice chairwoman Nguyễn Thị Thanh said the assembly gave high regard to the efforts of the drafting and reviewing committees for this bill, which specify the Party and State’s direction on radical and comprehensive education reforms.

Following this session, the NA Standing Committee will direct relevant departments to review the feedback from the deputies to finalise and present the bill for consideration at the next plenary session of the 15th-tenure NA. — VNS